Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has recently said that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni should bat up in the order and also lead from the front and his comments came prior to CSK’s second match of the IPL 2021 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday. It is also noteworthy that, Dhoni came to bat at the number 7 position in their first match against Delhi Capitals (DC) where he was out for a duck.

Meanwhile, he has also led ChennaiSuper Kings three times to the title win as well. However, MS Dhoni was criticised earlier too for coming lower down the order in the last edition of the IPL in the UAE. Considered as one of the best finishers of the game, he had failed to win many matches for his team several times and also struggled with his strike rate too which eventually affected CSK as they failed to qualify for the play-offs for the very first time in the history of the league.

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“MS Dhoni should be batting higher, that’s what matters because ultimately people should start leading from the front. We keep mentioning this thing that a leader needs to lead from the front. You can’t be leading, when you’re batting at No.7. Yes, there are issues in their bowling line up. Plus, he is not the MS Dhoni, which he used to be probably four or five years back, where he could just come in and start taking on the bowlers from the word go. For me, I think he needs to bat at number four/ five. Nothing below that,” Gambhir said at the Star Sports show ‘Cricket LIVE’.

In their first match, they failed to defend the 189-run target against Delhi Capitals on Saturday despite a blistering fifty from Suresh Raina on his return to the IPL. On the other hand, Delhi openers Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan laid the winning foundation with more than 100-run stand and won the game with 7 wickets and 8 balls in hand.

MS Dhoni led CSK will next play against Punjab Kings on Friday, April 16.